Health Minister Hala Zayed launched on Saturday the second phase of the largest health campaign under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, which aims to eradicate hepatitis C across the nation as part of the country’s strategic 2020 plan.

The initiative aims to examine between 45 and 52 million citizens. The medical examination will be conducted on 17 million citizens who are 18 and older in the first stage.

She added that infected patients will be treated for free until they are completely recovered.

The launch of the second phase took place in Egypt’s Nile Delta governorate of Ismailia and 11 other governorates.

Zayed then said that the number of citizens scheduled to be examined in the governorates of the second phase is expected to reach more than 20 million citizens, through about 1877 points at the level of those governorates.

The campaign’s first stage was successful in diagnosing citizens with the disease, expressed the health minister during the launch of the second phase.

The campaign also aims to stymie the growth of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, which are responsible for 70 percent of all deaths in Egypt, according to Zayed.

Zayed said during the launch that the campaign’s first stage was successful in diagnosing citizens with the disease and means to combat it.